Little Western Wall, Ancient prayer site in Old City, Jerusalem, Israel.
The Little Western Wall, or HaKotel HaKatan, is a free-standing section of the Western Wall in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City, near the Iron Gate. It faces a narrow alley about four metres wide, made up of two small courtyards, rather than a plaza. Only the two lowest stone courses date from the Second Temple period; the rest of its height is covered by earth.
This wall was built during the Second Temple period, when the temple stood from around the 6th century BCE until 70 CE. It served as part of the retaining wall system that supported the temple's western side throughout that era.
Prayers written on slips of paper are tucked between the stones, as at the larger Western Wall. The narrow alley is also used for circumcision ceremonies, which are restricted at the main Western Wall plaza. On Rosh Hashanah in 2006 a boy was arrested for blowing a shofar here.
The site is open throughout the day for visitors to approach and pray, accessed through the narrow lanes of the Old City. Small stalls nearby sell prayer items, though the tight alley space means the location can feel crowded during peak visiting hours.
The wall's two lowest stone courses are Herodian, but unlike the main Western Wall they were never worn smooth by worshippers' hands. The passage beside them belongs to Hosh ash-Shihābī, the courtyard of Ribāṭ Kurd, a hospice for Muslim pilgrims founded in 1293 or 1296 by Sayf ad-Dīn Kurd al-Manṣūrī, a mamluk of Sultan Qalāwūn.
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